Director of Communications Prof. Fahrettin Altun responded to TürkMedya Ankara Representative Malik Yiğitel’s questions regarding the decision of the US administration to impose sanctions on Turkey.
How would you evaluate the US decision to impose sanctions in general?
“First of all, I would like to underline that the sanction decision of the US against our country is not rational, but also against the spirit of our partnership in terms of real politics. Turkey does not base its regional and global foreign policy strategies on experiencing tension with any country, ally or not. The explicit principle of Our President; the priority of finding solutions to problems through the use of all channels of dialogue and reconciliation available to diplomacy has been the most prominent characteristic of Turkish foreign policy. Therefore, Turkey does not deserve sanctions or similar approaches and, nor can these hold Turkey back from its march of independence. Our commitment to national sovereignty is unwavering and unaffected by the threat of sanctions.”
What kind of outcomes would Turkey experience from these threats?
“Bad neighbour forces one to have his own pots and pans.”
“These sanctions decisions or efforts to implement them have made Turkey a far more confident and self-sufficient country throughout history. As you know, we have encountered a similar scenario, numerous times before. At the time, however, we were not as strong economically or in terms of the defence industry as we are today. For instance, there was a Johnson letter incident. US President Johnson wrote a letter of unprecedented harshness in history against the government of the time that decided to take measures against the massacre of Turks in Cyprus and banned the use of US weapons in Cyprus. Turkey did not even own a single landing ship that day. That is why the Cyprus operation had to be postponed. In those days amid all the impossibilities, the nation mobilized organized an aid campaign, and we built 36 landing ships ourselves. It was only after that, that the Cyprus Peace Operation could be carried out in 1974. Look at what we have accomplished since that day. The TCG Anatolian Ship, our largest battleship of the highest quality in its field, will be ready within a year. Our defence industry has also had a similar adventure with UAVs. While fighting against the PKK, we asked the United States to use Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for intelligence sharing. The US, however, did not share this information with us. As a result, our fight against terrorism had suffered. However, today we are producing our own UAVs and UCAVs. The success of UAV and UCAV has nearly brought terrorism to an end. We can carry out massive cross-border operations. As our President has often said, “bad neighbour forces one to have his own pots and pans”. Although some difficulties may arise in the short term, these sanctions will not affect Turkey in the medium and long term.”
How do you evaluate the statement made by the United States that ‘Turkey has forced us to do so’?
“The Defeat of US diplomacy”
“In Turkey-US relations, we have different strategies and ideas on a range of issues, particularly in Syria and the PKK/YPG terrorist organization. We have resolutely carried out our cross-border operations against the PKK/YPG, when necessary, in order to keep our national interests at the highest level. However, we forced the diplomatic channels with the US to the end, and we never hesitated to call for dialogue. All this has happened transparently in the presence of the nation. Unfortunately, however, the US has not been able to use diplomacy effectively on these matters. They continuously avoided our calls to ‘set up a Joint Technical Working Group on S-400’. They even closed their ears to statements made by NATO officials in support of Turkey on the S-400. Whereas, if this was the core of the issue, our door was open to the solution of the problem. Yet, as we all know now when the US cannot use diplomacy effectively, it turns to sanctions. This crisis will take its place in political history and diplomacy books as a defeat of US diplomacy. I consider it a loss for the US, whom we see as an important ally, to go beyond all reason despite our efforts to protect mutual interests within the framework of equality.”
Wouldn't the US decision to impose sanction on an allied country have consequences for the NATO alliance?
“As you know, the course of alliance relations between states depends on a rational basis. Just as there are no absolute friends or enemies, allies can also come into conflict over certain issues. However, the situation for the US has become more complicated with this last incident. If you decide to impose sanction on Turkey irrationally and unduly, the other allies of yours will no longer trust you. Following a stable but not an obsessive foreign policy is the most strategic tool of the states. The US imposes and lifts sanctions on Iran or Russia from time to time. It is not fully consistent. It always brings sanctions on Turkey into question. Incidents like these also make the US an unpredictable state in the eyes of the allies. This is exactly why I am saying that this sanction decision is extremely troublesome for the US.”
Implementation of the decision is left to the new US administration of President Biden; what do you expect?
“The target must be terrorist organizations”
We will see all together how willing Biden will be to implement the decisions of the Trump administration and foreign policy actors. There is a huge gap between the two administrations. It will be a huge burden for Biden to implement a foreign policy law that includes these sanctions. What our President said at the airport on his way to Baku is important in this respect: ‘Let Mr Biden assume his position; we will probably sit down with Mr Biden and talk about some things. We will again talk about these issues as we did in the past both in Turkey and the United States. Someone might prompt some negative things there, it doesn’t matter. They are inexperienced in policy but I believe that we will go through this process in a very different way with the US.’ We expect the United States, who is our ally in NATO to which Turkey makes significant contributions, to target terrorist organizations such as PKK-YPG and DAESH, not Turkey, with the new administration. Turkey is ready to do everything on its part in the struggle against terrorism for the security, peace, and stability of the region. It is now inevitable for all states to collaborate in order to protect the security of the world and the reputation of international institutions and states before societies. It is crucial for our world; which has gone through two great world wars, which has lost its precious time in the shadow of the cold war and which has been worn out by regional wars; to act more alert and in unity against new conflicts. As Turkey, under the leadership of our President, we are ready for this issue to the end. We need rationale and conscience working for partnership, alliance, and world peace instead of irrational policies and sanction decisions. Therefore, we continue to believe that the US will correct this grave mistake without delay.”
What do you think about the implications of the sanction decision in Turkey?
“Our greatest strength is bunching up”
“The stance of our nation against the sanction decisions has been the same as we have done for every national issue. Our unity and solidarity show us that we are on the right path. We see very clearly how the nation stands against injustice towards its own state and leader when we check the messages sent to CİMER within our Directorate of Communications and the messages posted on social media. Despite some contrary voices, the conscience of our nation generally tells us the same thing. ‘We will not give up our struggle for independence no matter how hard it is.’ The support of our nation for an independent Turkey in every field under the leadership of our President is our biggest strength.